TRADITIONAL, NOT CONVENTIONAL.

Orange Goggles for Insomnia? (August 26, 2014)

I’ve written on insomnia before -- and I am sure that I will again. It is a good subject for discussion because it is so common, because it can be so harmful, and because most of the time it is fairly easily handled by lifestyle modification and maybe a supplement or two, with backup firepower of acupuncture and herbal medicine for tougher cases.

Part of the problem is that many people are proud of not getting enough sleep. We have a weird culture of honoring excess and extremes of all kinds in America, which I think is why so many people find traditional Asian philosophies and practices like yoga, with their emphasis on balance and moderation, to be so attractive. Traditional Chinese medicine would say that damaging one's health with extreme behavior of any type (including excessive exercise) should not be celebrated. Chronic sleep deprivation puts one’s physical and mental health in jeopardy in many ways and is to be avoided in anything other than a true emergency situation.

Back in the day when we all lived natural, normal lives (because we had to, of course, not because we wanted to, but that is besides the point), the responses that our bodies had evolved over countless millennia to cope with the environment worked quite well. Many, many disorders of modern life are the fault of that environment changing so rapidly that our bodies haven't yet figured out how to cope with the new normals. So very often the solution to a health problem is found when we finally figure out precisely which of our body's coping mechanisms is being overwhelmed. And this particularly interesting solution for insomnia (that I promise that I am eventually going to get to) falls into that category.

One of the mechanisms that most living things evolved to function more effectively is circadian rhythm, which is an internally programmed set of changes that are meant to occur regularly over about a 24-hour period. Circadian rhythm controls the sleep-wake cycle, and it is most strongly affected by the presence or absence of light. Pre-Industrial Revolution, this was not an issue for humans – we got up at sunrise and retired at sunset because we had to, and the predictable patterns of light and dark kept our bodies properly in tune with the environment. Artificial light during normal darkness hours suppresses the normal release of melatonin during those hours. Not enough melatonin at the right times, you don't get sleepy. [This disruption in melatonin is also believed to be behind the greater incidence of cancer, diabetes and obesity, heart disease, and depression seen in night-shift workers.]

Artificial light, interestingly, tends to have more blue wavelengths in it than does daylight. Fluorescent lights have even more of those blue wavelengths. And the light emitted by electronic devices has the most of all. Blue wavelengths boost attention and reaction times, which is great except when you have to rest. So light at night can be very disruptive, and exposure to the blue light emitted by electronics and energy-efficient light bulbs especially so.

I have no idea who first thought that wearing orange goggles to filter out the blue wavelengths might be helpful for insomniacs. But s/he deserves some applause for originating the idea -- there are now a number of solid studies on people who wore orange- or amber-colored goggles (like simple orange sunglasses) after 6 pm, or for an hour or two before going to sleep, who saw their sleep consistently improved. One of my own rules of thumb is to try anything that you think might be helpful as long as it's also safe and cheap, and if you're suffering from insomnia there is more than enough evidence to make this worth a try if you are so inclined. Unless you wear the sunglasses driving at night, probably the worst thing that could happen to you would be a particularly rude family member making fun of you. Here is a link if you want some more details on this very interesting topic:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20030543

Despite the little rant that I began this with, most people ARE trying to sleep and are unable to do so effectively. The basic reason for this can be summed up as “too much stimulation, too late in the day”, and decreasing that stimulation is the idea behind most of the recommended lifestyle modifications for insomnia, including this one. We were designed to live a certain way, and when you start seeing widespread health problems in a population it’s a solid bet that it is violating one of those rules. It would be great if something as simple as a pair of colored glasses turns out to be a viable solution to sleeplessness.